One last challenge for Harmanpreet Kaur as skipper leads India in a bid for maiden World Cup glory

Playing her fifth overall ICC World Cup—and most likely her last, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (36) now has to push her team to overcome the last hurdle in their pursuit of a maiden World Cup title.

Her timely return to form against Australia in the semifinal was decisive. Harmanpreet scored 89 runs and topped with a 167-run stand for the third wicket with Jemimah Rodrigues. Her innings remained her individual best of the tournament. The knock came against the same opponents off whom she scored an unbeaten 171 in the second semifinal of the 2017 World Cup.

Related news: Harmanpreet’s journey from dusty fields of Moga to the grandest stage of world cricket

“One more game to go. We all played well (against Australia) and are happy with the result. But we have already started speaking about the next game — that shows how focused we are and how keen we are to win the World Cup,” said the skipper during the post-match presentation.

And she was quite right. If the Indians were so good against world champs Australia, think about their performance against the Proteas women in the final on November 2, at the same venue where the co-hosts of the tournament are ‘undefeatable’ from three outings.

Before entering the World Cup, Harmanpreet had mentioned the importance given the fact—it’s being held at home.

“Personally, this tournament is very important for me. It’s a home World Cup. Home World Cups are special for every player,” she had said.

The confidence came after the team did well in overseas tours. In the World Cup, the team started off well, but witnessed a dip with three consecutive defeats. It was on their arrival at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, they found back the winning way. Since then, Harmanpreet has stayed away from media interactions. Perhaps, she has been keeping it for a ‘special day’ of November 2 with the World Cup trophy.

India have finished runners-up twice, in 2005 and 2017, but are yet to claim the title.

The first woman to score a century in a T20 International, Harmanpreet’s journey from Duneke village in Moga to leading India has been remarkable. Possibly the first girl from her village to pursue cricket professionally, she grew up playing with boys before joining an academy. Sports runs in the family; her father was a volleyball and basketball player.

Her success has inspired countless young girls to take up cricket. After representing Punjab and later Mumbai, she joined Railways, where she was offered to join the team and a job as office superintendent. She made her ODI debut at 20, against Pakistan in March 2009 in the Women’s World Cup at Bradman Oval, Bowral.

However, she has her own eras of ups and downs.

In 2018, after her remarkable 2017 World Cup performance, she was appointed as a Deputy Superintendent of Police by the Punjab government. But four months later, Punjab Police announced to demote her to the rank of a constable with the Chaudhary Charan Singh University of Meerut saying her enrolment number didn’t exist in their records. The matter was eventually resolved.